Pages

DFA Red Ribbon

If you're looking to work abroad, you need to get your documents "red ribboned" by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The DFA red ribbon serves to show that your documents have been verified and found to be authentic.

According to the DFA's "Authentication Function" --
"The DFA through the Authentication Division-Office of Consular Affairs may authenticate an act, deed documents etc. executed or sourced within Philippine legal jurisdiction by way of certifying said act, as follows: a) executed before a local notary public officer authorized to execute such functions, b) testified to by a public seal, c) rendered public by the authority of a competent magistrate, d) certified as being a copy of a public register. When these acts, deeds or documents have been duly authenticated by the Department, the receiving embassies or consulates or any other foreign legal entities are, in effect assured that aforesaid documents are in order or have been legalized in accordance with proper procedure. Foreign Embassies, Consulates and foreign legal entities may or may not require the authentication of documents sourced from the Philippines for use within their respective jurisdictions."

WHAT DOCUMENTS CAN BE RED RIBBONED?

Apparently, you can have any document red ribboned. Here are some that I know of.

NSO Birth and Marriage Certificates, CENOMAR

Certified true copies of academic records.

Notary Public Affidavit (If they are intended to support the above-named documents.)

Before taking these documents to DFA, make sure that they already have been certified by the corresponding offices you got them from.

If it's birth, marriage and certification of singleness (CENOMAR) then these documents must be from NSO. For academic records, You need to request certified true copies of these from your school and in turn, be forwarded to DepED (if your authenticating high school records) and CHED (if you're authenticating college records.)

Likewise with affidavits of discrepancy that supports any documents for travel will have to be taken to be red ribboned itself and attached to the document it supports.

REQUIREMENTS

The document that needs to be authenticated, already certified as true by the corresponding office it was issued from.

Fee of Php 100.00 for regular processing which takes 5 business days and Php 200.00 for rush processing, out by 2 business days.

Processing for red ribbon is at the old DFA office located in Libertad, Pasay city. Beware of fixers as there still are lots of them out there. Just go directly to the DFA building itself and ask question from the Security Guard at the entrance if unsure of where to proceed. You need to look for where the lane says "Authentication" once you enter the DFA building.

To see a table of the complete list of documents that can be red ribboned by the DFA and the corresponding Government Agencies involved in the authentication process, please click HERE.